In the video above, an Egyptian bishop describes the tremendous faith of his people and how it has been strengthened by persecution and violent attacks in his country. The Vatican's Fides news agency reports 40 missionaries and pastoral workers around the world were killed in 2018. (video: Rome Reports/YouTube)

Report: 40 missionaries killed around the world in 2018(Vatican News) In the course of the year 2018, 40 “missionaries” and pastoral workers were killed around the world, almost double the previous year’s toll of 23, the Vatican’s Fides news agency reported. Until 2017, the Americas led the way for 8 consecutive years for the highest number of missionaries killed. In 2018, Africa topped the list…

Egypt policeman killed defusing bomb near Coptic church(BBC) A policeman has been killed trying to defuse a bomb outside a Coptic Christian church in Egypt, security officials say. Mustafa Abid was reportedly a specialist in mine clearance. The explosion injured two other officers and an onlooker…

Muslims slam India’s verbal divorce bill(UCANews.com) Opposition to India’s move to criminalize verbal divorce among Muslims continued in early January after the governing pro-Hindu party sought to push a bill through parliament last month that would outlaw the practice, which is still prevalent among Muslims…

For Orthodox churches in Ukraine and Russia, a politically charged Christmas(CNN) This Christmas, however, is a politically charged one for both Russia and Ukraine. On Saturday 5 January, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople signed a decree called a “tomos” that granted independence to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The decree furthers a push begun in October to recognize the establishment of an independent Orthodox Church in the country. And it has given Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko an important symbolic victory ahead of a presidential vote slated for the end of March…

Priest turns derelict land into ’Garden of Eden’ in Delhi(UCANews.com) The Delhi Archdiocese has set up an eco-spirituality center for meditation on the edge of the capital powered by renewable energy that features quake-proof cottages, an organic diet and farm animals. It is called Ish Vatika (the Garden of God) and is managed by Father Stanley Kozhichira, national president of the Catholic media organization Signis India...